Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba -To the Hashira Training Red Carpet Premiere Report

With season four of Demon Slayer just around the corner, I'm sure many people would foam at the mouth at the opportunity to get a preview of things to come, especially after the emotionally intense finale of season three. Thankfully, Anime News Network was able to check out the red carpet premiere of this new installment, the Hashira Training Arc, in New York City.

The event included special guests Natsuki Hanae, the Japanese voice of Tanjiro Kamado, Hiro Shimono, and Aleks Le, the Japanese and English voices of Zenitsu Agatsuma, respectively, and Demon Slayer producer Yūma Takahashi. Walking down the red carpet, they all made it clear that they were making the most of their time in New York, enjoying the food and the sites. My favorite part of the event was watching Le be star-struck over getting to take photos with Hiro Shimono. But Natsuki Hanae, Hiro Shimono, and Yūma Takahashi clarified that they also wanted to ensure that fans could fully enjoy what Demon Slayer has in store for them next.

There wasn't much time for questions, but I asked the Japanese guests what they hoped fans would take away from this film. After jokingly being scared of my Muzan cosplay, they collectively agreed that the overall animation quality and presentation has always been a sight to behold. While Demon Slayer is, for the most part, a televised series that you can watch on most digital devices, Hanae noted how viewers can appreciate the spectacle on display when they watch it on a big screen.

Hanae's point was evident in the first half of the Hashira Arc "film," as this premiere was just two longer-than-usual episodes stitched together. The first half was the finale of season three, while the second half was the first episode of season four. Re-watching the finale of season four in a theater filled to the brim with people elicited stronger emotions than watching the finale by myself at home. This franchise still exudes movie-quality animation at times that complements sitting in a packed theater.

While it's probably not the most substantial, the Swordsmith Village Arc has one of the more significant finales in the series, with Nezuko discovering that she is immune to sunlight. The way that everything is directed and paced does conjure a lot of emotions in the moment but also acts as an inciting incident for one of the final arcs of the franchise. Now, Muzan will come out of hiding and stop at nothing to get Nezuko so he can also become a daywalker. However, before it can get to the big bad, the narrative must ensure all its characters are ready, leading into the aptly named training arc.

Natsuki Hanae, Hiro Shimono, and Yūma Takahashi made it clear that the second half is much slower than the first. They were not kidding because the second half of this film is just exposition. There was some rather cute comedy, particularly when it comes to moments like when Zenitsu runs into Nezuko in the sunlight for the first time, and almost everything with Tanjiro in the infirmary was hilarious. But most of the training arc was just the main characters sitting around and talking. There's a lot of foreshadowing and even some cleverly woven-in recap of specific events, but it wasn't engaging. If anything, it feels like there are a lot of promises for more exciting events to happen down the road, but I wonder how good the show can make on that promise. Training arcs are a staple of shōnen and can be interesting in some cases.

It's possible that the training won't be the main focus of the upcoming arc, and it will be a lot of setup for Muzan to amass his demons. There is some tension between some of the existing Hashira members, and we even get the return of some old ones, like Tengen, to assist with the training. But I'm unsure if this arc will build to any definitive conclusion or if it's just a stand-in before we get to the next major arc. Only time will tell.